Letter from Patrick Pearse to his mother Margaret Pearse, 3 May 1916

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from Patrick Pearse to his mother Margaret Pearse, 3 May 1916

1 Mrs. Pearse
St Enda's College
Rathfarnham;
or Cullenswood,
Oakeley Road,
Ranelagh.
Kilmainham Prison, Dublin. 3rd May 1916 My dearest Mother, I have been hoping up to now that it would
be possible for me to see you again, but it
does not seem possible. Good-bye, dear dear
Mother. Through you I say good-bye to
Wow-wow. M B, Willie, Miss Byrne, MicheÃ¡l
and Cousin Maggie, and everyone at St.
Endas. I hope and believe that Willie
and the St Enda's boys will be safe. I have written two papers about financial
affairs and one about my books, which I
want you to get. With them are a few
poems which I want added to the poems of
mine in Ms. in the large bookcase. You
asked me to write a little poem which
would seem to be said by you about
me I have written it, and one copy is
at Arbour Hill Barracks with the other
papers and Father Aloysius is taking
charge of another copy of it. I have just received Holy Com-
munion I am happy except for the 2 great grief at parting from you. This is
the death I should have asked for if
God had given me the choice of all
deaths, â€” to die a soldier's death for
Ireland and for freedom. We have done right. People will say
hard things of us now, but later on they
will praise us. Do not grieve for
all this, but think of
it as a sacrifice which God asked
of me and of you. Good bye again, dear, dear Mother
May God bless you for your great love
for me and for your great faith, and
may he remember all that you have
so bravely suffered. I hope soon
to see Papa, and in a little while
we shall all be together again. Wow-wow, Willie, Mary Brigid, and
Mother, Good bye. I have not words
to tell my love of you, and how my
heart yearns to you all. I will call to you
in my heart at the last moment. Your son Pat

The last letter of Patrick Pearse (1879-1916) to his mother, Margaret Pearse (1857-1932). He writes, extremely perceptively that 'people will say hard things of us' but that in due course 'they will praise us. It was written on the morning of Pearse's execution, shortly after he received holy communion. It is clear that he does not realise his brother, Willie Pearse (1881-1916), was also arrested (and, indeed, would be executed the following day). Patrick Pearse was a writer, a teacher and one of the leaders of the Easter Rising, 1916. He was a key member of the IRB military council, a signatory of the proclamation of the Irish Republic (which he read outside the GPO). As president of the provisional government, it was Pearse who called the surrender. He along with 15 others, was executed shortly after surrender. Margaret Pearse née Brady was an Irish nationalist and dáil deputy. Of a strong nationalist background, she imbued her sons, Patrick and William, with her firmly held beliefs. Margaret was well aware of her sons’ intentions, she fully supported them as they left St Enda's at Easter 1916, sewing medals onto the clothes of the St Enda's boys before they marched to the GPO. Following the execution of her two sons, she adopted their cause wholeheartedly and saw it as her purpose do as she thought they would have done. She envisaged St Enda's as their lasting monument and reopened the college in the autumn of 1916 at Cullenswood House, Rathmines.

Patrick Henry Pearse
Margaret Pearse
1916-05-03
Last letters before death Easter Rising Ireland 1916

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How to cite

Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__0525.html)